My Truth

Robyn collaborated with the producers Lindström & Ekhé, Christian Falk, Billy Mann, Thomas Rusiak and Masters at Work on the album.

Some of its lyrics reflect on the singer's fall 1998 abortion, which became controversial when RCA Records began planning a North American release.

Overseas critics were divided in their opinions of My Truth; they found it more mature than the singer's debut album, Robyn Is Here (1995), but noted that it lacked catchy hooks.

[1] The album sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, according to BMG Sweden,[1] and yielded the top-ten singles "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Show Me Love".

[2][3] Robyn Is Here was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies in the United States.

[14] She joined Swedish rapper Petter for "Det gör ont ibland", a Swedish-language duet, after they visited a friend's country home.

[8][11] Photographer Eric Broms provided the artwork for My Truth, which sees Robyn wearing a feather headpiece designed by Sebastian Wahl.

[16] She wrote "Giving You Back" in February 1999,[10][17] to help her cope with the abortion; when the album was completed, the singer called it one of the best songs she had written to date.

[21][22] About its mature tone, Robyn said that she had grown up since releasing her debut album and had gained life experiences which she wanted to express.

[18] Next is "Underneath the Heart", a piano-guitar-and-string ballad whose lyrics describe the desire to help someone else feel better,[18] which was compared by a critic to the catalogue of American singer Toni Braxton.

[24] The fourth track, "Electric", is an electronic funk song with reggae elements;[1][21] it uses positive and negative energy as metaphors for the close relationship between love and hate.

[18] The sixth song, "Main Thing" (which samples Shot's 1986 single of the same name),[26] explores the deep house, disco and funk genres.

[18] The lyrics of "Healthy Love", featuring Cindy, describe feeling vulnerable in a new relationship due to bad experiences in previous ones.

[19] David Schmader of The Stranger wrote that the song has a directness "unprecedented in pop", and compared its piano elements to those in Braxton's work.

[18] The thirteenth and final track, "Universal Woman" (for which Robyn received sole writing credit),[8] was written in ten minutes in a London hotel room.

[1] In December 1999, Aftonbladet reported that Robyn would record new songs for an American version of My Truth or a new album, scheduled for release in the fall of 2000.

[1] Robyn refused to change the album;[10][20] negotiations ended after six months, and the plans to release My Truth and its singles abroad were cancelled.

"[39] My Truth was eventually made available for streaming in the US in December 2014, although the hidden track "Det gör ont ibland" was omitted.

[31] Robyn first performed the song on the televised Miss Sweden beauty pageant at the Stockholm Concert Hall on 27 March 1999.

[22] Göteborgs-Posten's Patrik Lindgren praised the album's variety of musical styles, calling Robyn Sweden's top soul singer.

[57] According to Länstidningen Östersund's Björn Bostrand, Robyn separated herself from other up-and-coming singers with My Truth by balancing maturity and youthful ambition.

[21] A Helsingborgs Dagblad reviewer called My Truth one of the year's best Swedish records, praising its music, vocals, and lyrics.

[59] Magnus Persson of Borås Tidning considered My Truth a step in the right direction and recognized Robyn's songwriting, calling "Universal Woman" one of the album's best moments.

[26] Karolina Ramqvist of Dagens Nyheter also disliked the "flat" production by Lindström & Ekhé and Mann, but said that Robyn's improvement as a vocalist redeemed the album.

[24] A writer for Dagens industri said that My Truth's mature sound and low-profile approach would alienate her American teen audience.

John Lucas gave the album a retrospective review for AllMusic, however, writing that "there are no truly weak moments" and calling it "much more organic and mature" than Robyn Is Here.

"[10] Robert Christgau criticized My Truth in 2011, calling it "as strained as you might fear" and using it as an example of Robyn's "awkward stage that hits teenpop stars like clockwork".

[27] Patrik Lindgren of Göteborgs-Posten called My Truth the fifth-best Swedish album of 1999, regarding it a solid follow-up to Robyn Is Here.

[73] The same year, Vulture selected "Long Gone" as one of ten songs worth revisiting from the lesser-known parts of Robyn's catalogue.

A woman (Robyn) with short platinum blonde hair, smiling while holding an award
Robyn ( pictured in 2011 ) refused to change lyrics referring to her abortion for the American market, leaving the album unreleased outside Sweden.